Just Because
by Zoey Rowan
Summary: Surreal is having a hard time accepting her daughter is old enough to have her Birthright Ceremony. Light, childish fluff. Platonic!Surreal/Rainier. Shortfic for Children of Witch, during Child of Witch.
1. Chapter 1

Surrel sighed in frustration as she examined the wreckage. She ran a hand through her shoulder length black hair and growled. Who know a little girl, a puppy and two kittens could completely destroy a room? Granted, the puppy was a wolf Prince and the kittens six month old Arcerian Warlord Princes, but still!  
"Rayen!!" she yelled as she used her Gray Jewels to clean up the cushions would need to be replace and parts of the wood floor were unsalvagable, but the rest only needed a few cleaning spells she had learned from Marion.  
Upstairs, there was a loud crash! followed by giggling, barking and a few small roars. Surreal closed her eyes. Not again!  
Rainier was on the scene by the time Surreal arrived, doing damage control. Their daughter, Rayen, was giving him a run down of her day, forgetting, Surreal noted, to add the parts where she had escaped the house and, more recently, nearly destroyed the living room. The Opal Jeweled Warlord Prince smiled at Surreal, jerking his head towards the upstairs bathroom.  
_I wouldn't go in there if I were you,_ he said on a psycic thread. _I'll clean it up if you'll take the minx._  
Surreal eyed him warily before taking her daughter. Rayen gave her an innocent smile.  
"Beetles, Mama!" she cried in delight. Surreal paled before moving down the hall.  
"We'll just be in here," she told Rainier before slamming the door to Rayen's room closed. Rainier exchanged looks with Greysfang, who had come up to see what the noise was. Greysfang rolled his eyes before sniffing the bathroom door.  
_Are there really spiders?_


	2. Chapter 2

2. Ready to Let Go? Maybe Not.

_Disclaimer: I, to my great distress, do not own the BJT or any of it's companions. Those are Anne Bishop's. I just borrowed her genius and added charries of my own._

Jaenelle exploded into laughter when Surreal related the incident with the spiders to the coven the next day.

"Mother Night, I remember when Daemonar was that age!" Marian said, wiping her eyes, still giggling. "Lucivar tried so hard to get rid of any nasties he and the wolf pups brought in, but I knew."

"Rainier tries," Surreal admitted. "But he still can't hide everything and ever since those kittens decided Raeyen was theirs…it's been complete chaos."

"Kiernan is determined to try out his Jewels every chance he gets," Jaenelle said, rolling her eyes. "I've considered taking them away, just to get some peace!"

"It's won't work," Gabrielle informed her. "I tried that with Devon. Believe me, they always find a way to either get tem back, or get back at us."

"Thank the Darkness I have no idea what you guys mean by this," Karla joked, pulling a face.

"Brat," Jaenelle said lovingly, patting her friend's arm. "You got your daughter ready made, already through the early years."

""That, and Della only wears the Yellow," Karla informed her, smugly. "No way can she get into the kind of trouble we did."

"True," Jaenelle agreed. "But, Papa always says it was because there were ten of us that there was always complete chaos in the Hall." Her sapphire eyes sparkled as she remembered.

Surreal shifted uncomfortably as Jaenelle, Karla and Gabrielle started talking about the adventures of the past. Despite having been a part of the SaDiablo family for over fifteen years, she was still uncomfortable when the coven spoke of their teenage years. She couldn't relate to their experiences. Men, sex, children and weapons, those were topics she could easily talk about. But while the coven, age sixteen, had been exploding kitchens and painting walls with demon dead, at the same age Surreal had been learning how to be a professional whore and getting lessons on death from the Sadist.

She caught Marian's eye and the hearth witch gave her a warm smile. Marian could relate to Surreal's unease. She had been verbally and physically abused by her family before her father had tried to use her to pay off his gambling debts. Jaenelle and Saetan had taken care of the Warlords who had tried to rape her and Marian had been Lucivar's housekeeper before they married.

Surreal knew the details of the life of each woman in the room, just as they know every detail of her life before she had come to Kaeleer, how she had whored and killed to survive. And the most amazing part, at least to her, _they didn't care._

"Surreal, when's Raeyen's Birthright Ceremony?" Jaenelle asked suddenly. Surreal felt a rush of panic.

Motherhood was nothing like she had imagined it would be. She had thought she would resent a child for disrupting her life, but from the first moment she had held Raeyen, still wet from the birth, she had loved her daughter. It still amazed her how much she loved her. But, hellsfire, she wasn't ready to give up her baby!

"I…well…I…" she stuttered, flushing when everyone turned to look at her. "I…hadn't thought about it."

"It's hard, letting your firstborn go," Gabrielle said gently, reaching out to pat her knee. "It's hard with all of them, but your firstborn…" She paused. Everyone, even Karla, murmured their agreement. "But don't worry, Raeyen will still be the same, mischievous little brat she has always been. And once it's done, you'll know exactly how much trouble she'll be capable of!"

Everyone laughed, but Surreal's laughter quickly faded. Was she ready to let her baby go? She didn't know if she could answer that question.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Kits and Love

_Disclaimer: I, to my great distress, do not own the BJT or any of it's companions. Those are Anne Bishop's. I just borrowed her genius and added charries of my own._

"Kiernan! Wait for me!"

Raeyen stumbled after her "cousin", her short legs pumping to keep up with the longer-limbed boy.

"Come on, Kitten!" he called over his shoulder. Then an idea hit him and his Opal Jewel flashed as it bounced on it's chain and Raeyen gasped. A shield appeared around her and she flew to his side. He grinned at her, his golden eyes twinkling as he started walking again, pulling her after him.

"Where are we going?" Raeyen asked, not for the first time, enjoying her new mode of transportation. Kiernan grinned.

"Can't tell ya, 'cause then I'd have to kill ya. And then Aunt Surreal would kill _me_!"

"And don't forget Daddy," Raeyen giggled, picturing her gentle father going after her favorite "cousin". Kiernan gave a mock groan.

"Rainier would have my hide!"

Raeyen's laughter rand through the forest, happy and carefree. She knew she was safe with Kiernan, he was two years older than her and, to her, that made him almost grown up. He even had his _Jewels_! Her mother hadn't let her have her Birthright Ceremony yet and she was anxious for the day when she would get her Jewels, so she could join her idol in the world of the Jeweled Blood. She would even be able to go to _school_! Rosie always complained about her lessons when she came back for holidays, but Kiernan had assured Raeyen that the lessons were really kinda fun. And since Kiernan had said it, it _must _be true!

"Are we there yet?" she asked a few minutes later. Kiernan didn't respond, just gave her a smile, but a moment later, they burst into a clearing in the forest and he stopped. The shield around her dissolved and Kiernan grinned.

"We have to be very quiet, okay?" he said softly. "We don't want to scare them away, right?" She nodded, eyes wide with excitement. He took her hand in his and led her towards the edge of the clearing slowly, careful to wrap a sound and psychic shield around them. He pushed aside a low hanging tree limb and pointed towards a pile of rocks under a giant oak.

"A fox built a den there," he whispered, his mouth right against her ear, speaking so softly she barely heard his words. "It had its kits a few weeks ago. I saw them yesterday. If we watch, maybe we can see them again."

The pair of children watched the rocks carefully for a long time. Raeyen, usually a very active child, rarely able to stay still, was quiet and still, watching the trees with sparkling golden eyes. Then she let out a tiny gasp.

Three tiny fox kits tumbled out of the den, tumbling around as they wrestled and explored their new surroundings. Kiernan grinned ass Raeyen let a soft squeal escape when the biggest kit pounced it's litter mates and they tumbled to the forest floor. He let her watch for a while longer before gently pulling her away and glancing at the setting sun.

"Come on," he said as she yawned. "We need to go home, or Mother will be annoyed."

She giggled softly as he repeated his shield-vehicle trick and they started back to the Hall.

"Kiernan?" she said sleepily. He glanced at her, noting the sleepy look on her pixie-like face.

"Yeah?"

"Can we come back to see the kits soon?"

He grinned and dropped the shield as he strode onto the manicured lawn of the Hall and bent enough for her to climb onto his back. Raeyen clamped her arms and legs around him and rested her head between his shoulders. He set out towards the Hall again and tossed the words over his shoulder as he climbed the steps to the front door, where Beale waited with a bemused expression as he held the door open for the "young master".

"Anytime you want, love."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Kids

_Disclaimer: I, to my great distress, do not own the BJT or any of it's companions. Those are Anne Bishop's. I just borrowed her genius and added charries of my own._

Sometimes, Surreal wished children came with an off switch.

Pressing her fingers to her temples, she closed her eyes, counting backwards from ten slowly. Kiernan, Raeyen, the wolf pups, Arcerian kittens and little Kaeylie were playing a loud game downstairs in the playroom. At least, Surreal thought it was a game, but the shrieks, squeals, bangs, barks and roars coming from the room were enough to make her wonder if there was a major battle going on. Why hadn't Rosie stopped them?

She hurried down the stairs from the second floor and down the few steps to the sunken living room Surreal and Rainier had converted into a playroom. Surreal had agreed to look after the SaDiablo children for a few days while Jaenelle and Daemon were touring Dhemlan, which Daemon did yearly. It was only a few hours into the stay and Surreal already wanted to pull her hair out.

Raeyen was standing on the art table, hacking at Kiernan with a practice stick, screaming warcries at the top of her lungs. Kiernan was yelling as well, laughing as he fought off Raeyen and held on to a Shield to keep the pups and kittens, who were obviously on Raeyen's side, away from him. Kaeylie was seated in a corner, laughing and clapping. Surreal noticed, with relief, that Kiernan had thrown a Shield around Raeyen as well. Rosey was no where in sight.

"What are you doing in here?" Surreal exclaimed. Raeyen and Kiernan turned to look at her, Shields dropping.

"Hi Mommy!" Raeyen called, hopping down from the table. Her stick flew up and smacked Kiernan in the face.

"OW! Fuck!" Kiernan grabbed his nose, falling to the floor. Raeyen grinned.

"Sorry Kier!"

Surreal sighed and went to his side, weaving a quick healing spell for him.

"You two need to find a quieter game, I can hear you from upstairs. Okay?"

"Okay, Mommy." Raeyen gave her mother a sunny smile that threatened to crack Surreal's annoyance.

"What about Kaeylie?" Surreal asked. "What are you doing with her?"

"She wanted to just watch," Kiernan explained with all the logical reasoning a nine year-old boy could possess. "Besides, she's too little!"

Surreal decided she didn't want a bigger headache than she already had and merely nodded. "Alright," she sighed. "I'm going back upstairs to finish some business. All of you play quietly for another hour and maybe after lunch we will go to Gabrielle's." The Darkness knew she needed the company of another witch.

"Yay!" Kiernan and Raeyen cried. Surreal helped them get out the coloring sticks and big pieces of paper, hoping the relatively safe activity would keep them quiet.

"Where is Rosey?" she asked suddenly, remember that the fourteen year old witch was supposed to be there as well.

"Devon came by," Kiernan said nonchalantly, his attention more focused on coloring over Raeyen's red sun than anything else. Surreal guessed, from the absent way it was spoken, Rosie frequently disappeared with Gabrielle and Chaosti's eldest and decided to save herself the headache and accept it.

Thirty minute later, as she struggled to finish the last of her business affairs, a loud screech split the air.

"Kiernan! Raeyen!" she shouted, rising to her feet and struggling not to cry.

"Sorry Mommy!" was her daughter's not quite convincing reply.

"Sorry, Aunt Surreal!" Kiernan called after Raeyen, sounding equally unashamed.

Where was an off switch when you needed it?


End file.
